Julia Jabour

A new approach to selecting Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean

Abstract Conservation of the high seas marine environment poses a significant challenge to policy-makers and managers. Marine conservation efforts are often hindered by the lack of data and the difficulties in addressing multiple, and typically conflicting uses. The majority of extant Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are in coastal or tropical regions within national jurisdiction. Conservation of high seas MPAs has emerged on the international agenda as a critical issue requiring the application of novel approaches, international cooperation and political will. Knowledge and understanding of the marine environment and data on marine biodiversity are all typically limited for the high seas, and the use of surrogates to assist in the identification of areas of high conservation value is one possible mechanism to address and potentially overcome these limitations. Drawing upon a database spanning more than 20 years and containing approximately 140 000 records of seabird sightings at sea, this study assesses the potential use of seabirds as surrogates for marine biodiversity in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean. At-sea ranges, species diversity and the distributions of endangered species may be appropriate selectors or filters to identify areas with high conservation values. Integrating policy with science provides an appropriate mechanism to identify and prioritise MPAs in the Southern Ocean.

Independent expeditions and Antarctic tourism policy

Discussions about the management of non-governmental activities in Antarctica have been handicapped by a lack of clarity in terminology. The term ‘tourism,’ for example, is used in a catch-all manner to describe activities as widely divergent and incommensurable as overflights by commercial jetliners and solo ski traverses of the ice cap. Recent debate about stricter regulation of independent expeditions has been similarly confused. This paper examines these definitional hurdles and offers a broad categorization of activities inAntarctica. An overviewof recent independent expeditions is then given and issues are discussed. It is suggested that, to date, the terms of the debate have been set by the most powerful vested interests in Antarctica and that the discussion itself has been polarized. The paper does not prescribe policy but indicates alternative points of view and argues that the strict regulatory approach increasingly favoured by some national programs is out of all proportion to the size of potential problems and could diminish traditions of cooperation, non-proprietorship, and the adventurous spirit, which have uniquely characterized human endeavour in Antarctica.

Super Trawler Scuppered in Australian Fisheries Management Reform

ABSTRACT In response to an intense social media campaign led by international conservation groups, Green politicians, and recreational fishers, the Australian government imposed a moratorium on the operations of a large factory trawler. This moratorium overrode the governments own independent fisheries management process by making amendments to its key environmental legislation just days prior to the commencement of fishing by this vessel. Concurrently, the government announced a comprehensive review of Australias fisheries management legislation. Whereas science is usually deployed in support of conservation in natural resource conflicts, in this case science-based fisheries management advice took a back seat to vociferous protest by interest groups, perpetuated by the media (in particular social media), ultimately culminating in a contentious political decision.

Polar Tourism: Human, Environmental and Governance Dimensions

is nothing from the perspective of later, but rapidly rising Antarctic players such as China, India, and South Korea (though participants from these nations were at the conference) or from a state which has questioned the Antarctic order, Malaysia. The publishing of Science Diplomacy is subsidised by the Smithsonian Institute and print copies are available for free via email to school_press@si.edu or as a pdf at www.scholarlypress.si.edu. Every serious researcher on Antarctic issues (and their librarian) should seek out a copy of this useful new volume.

National Antarctic Programs and Their Impact on the Environment

This chapter describes the nature and scope of government operations in the Antarctic, touching briefly on the sub-Antarctic islands and also on the growing non-government tourism industry. Its aim is to provide the context for estimating the overall size and impression of the human footprint (i.e. the spatial extent of disturbance) and the degree to which human activity might pose a risk to the health of Antarctic wildlife. The consequences of the introduction and/or spread of disease, which is the subject of several other chapters in this book, largely depend on the nature of those activities.

Human Impacts to Antarctic Wildlife: Predictions and Speculations for 2060

Four broad categories of human activities that presently threaten Antarctic wildlife in the Antarctic were identified: (1) tourism and non-governmental activities, (2) scientific research, (3) commercial fisheries and (4) whaling. Two further broad categories of threats that originate from multiple forms of human activities are: (1) shipping-related impacts and (2) the introduction of non-native species or disease-causing agents. These threats are not mutually exclusive, and there are various interactions and synergies present amongst them. We have not incorporated climate change into the assessment of each of these, but briefly assess the hierarchical contribution of climate change to other threats. We confidently expect an expansion of virtually all anthropogenic activities in the Antarctic (primarily tourism, research and fisheries) in the next 50 years. The threats will also increase in their complex synergies and interactions, giving further increasing urgency to adopting a more precautionary approach to managing human activities in the Antarctic. We present predictions for 2060 and list suggested proactive management and conservation strategies to address the predicted threats to Antarctic wildlife and their environment.

Strategic Management and Regulation of Antarctic Tourism

Antarctic tourism is mainly ship-based and managed on a day-to-day basis by the industry using guidelines for behaviour designed specifically for tourist sites. Regulation comes mainly from international shipping law. There are increasing concerns about climate change, shipping accidents and growing tourist numbers, prompting calls for stricter governance to manage growth and risk. The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties collaborate with expert organisations to govern tourism but there are still regulatory lacunae that need attention. Initiatives such as a ban on heavier fuel oils in the Antarctic Treaty area and the imposition of a mandatory shipping code will slowly fill that gap. But a new suggestion is offered here to tighten regulation even further: the adoption of sponsoring states for tourism operators from among Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties. This scheme will introduce a strict element of environmental liability for tourist activities, with greater enforceability.

Theatre sports in the Southern Ocean: engagement options for Australia in whale research protest action

In the great whaling debate, fuelled twice yearly by the annual International Whaling Commission meeting and the departure of the Japanese research fleet for the Southern Ocean, silliness knows no bounds. 2008 was no exception, as the Southern Ocean again became the location of protest action (sometimes provocative and potentially life-threatening) against Japanese scientific research vessels. The Japanese are accused of ‘whaling’ in a whale sanctuary off the Australian Antarctic Territory, yet this claim to sovereignty is not legally proven and therefore not universally accepted. The Rudd Labor Government bowed to significant pressure and sent its Customs vessel, the Oceanic Viking, to spy on the Japanese fleet and gather evidence for a possible ‘world court’ action. This paper examines what options were available to Australia to intervene in the protest action, to monitor the Japanese research and to take legal action in an international forum within the constraints of internationally defined diplomatic and legal boundaries. It concludes that the risk of attracting the wrath of the Japanese government and other Antarctic Treaty countries is great indeed and the Australian government must be careful not to step too far outside these boundaries.

Antarctic gateway ports: opening tourism to MacQuarie Island and the East Antarctic from Hobart.

This article discusses the significance of Antarctic gateway ports, and identifies the key issues and challenges in developing East Antarctic tourism, especially through the port of Hobart. Recent opportunities have emerged through increased ship-borne and pending air-borne capacity from Hobart, and a network of government and private agencies have made Hobart the locus of these services. This presents an opportunity to investigate the needs and expectations of tourists through the gateways with a view to developing products and services to meet those needs and expectations. Findings from a preliminary survey of East Antarctic tourists in the 2005–2006 season are presented and a model for developing tourism to the East Antarctic from Hobart is proposed.

Progress towards the mandatory code for polar shipping

A mandatory international code for safer shipping, which in turn will help protect vulnerable marine environments in polar waters, is imminent. It began life as recommendatory guidelines from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to apply only to ships in Arctic waters. But a request from the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties prompted the expansion of these guidelines into mandatory rules for shipping in both polar regions. Choices for the form and scope of the code included, among others, the adoption of a separate convention or the addition of annexes to supplement the International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). The technical difficulties associated with a mandatory code applying to ships servicing the Arctic or the Antarctic or both have largely been overcome and a risk-based code is about to be adopted and applied, in the first instance, to SOLAS-rated vessels.